Open and Shut (Andy Carpenter Series #1)

by David Rosenfelt

Overview

Edgar-award nominated author David Rosenfelt's hilarious hero, Andy Carpenter, takes on a high-profile murder case, with his favorite golden retriever, Tara, by his side—now with a new cover look.

Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But Andy prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. Tara, a golden retriever, is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of PassaicCounty. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and bring honor to his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons—and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446612531
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2003
Series:	Andy Carpenter Series , #1
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	25,822
Product dimensions:	4.12(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

David Rosenfelt is the former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures and lives in Southern California.

What People are Saying About This

Harlan Coben

A great book...gripping...all around terrific.

Editorial Reviews

"A great book...gripping...all around terrific."—Harlan Coben

"Splendid...intricate plotting."—Cleveland Plain Dealer

From the Publisher

"Splendid...intricate plotting."

Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A great book...gripping...all around terrific."

Harlan Coben

...fast and funny. For some reason New Jersey brings out some dark streak of comedy in writers and I'm grateful to the state for that. A terrific debut.

Donald E. Westlake

... a terrific debut...writes like a seasoned professional ...once I opened this book, I couldn't shut it till I finished the last page.

Margaret Maron

It's no surprise to find Harlan Coben giving a blurb to Rosenfelt's debut mystery, an homage to Coben's popular Myron Bolitar series. Like Bolitar, lawyer Andy Carpenter lives in suburban New Jersey, has strong bonds with his father, is a sports nut and has a refreshing lack of respect for wealth and power. Andy also has Myron's self-deprecating sense of humor, which allows him to make fun of his personal shortcomings. But Rosenfelt lacks both Coben's powerful narrative engine and gift for bringing weird minor characters to credible life. Andy, a flamboyant district attorney who dazzles the onlookers in Paterson with cute courtroom antics that probably wouldn't last a New York or L.A. minute, stumbles through a couple of plots that just don't ring true. When his father, Nelson, a straight-arrow DA, asks him to defend a death row rapist/murderer seeking a new trial, Andy reluctantly agrees. When the older man dies (spectacularly, at a Yankees game), a totally unexpected $22 million estate surfaces. On the side, Andy works to restart his failed marriage to an important politician's daughter while also pursuing his no-nonsense female chief investigator. Then Andy finds much too conveniently an old photograph linking his father and a bunch of boyhood friends to the original crime. We never learn enough about Nelson to understand or care about his guilt. Loose ends that a Coben would never have left to dangle undermine the ending. Hopefully, a more seasoned Rosenfelt will do better next time. (May 9) Forecast: Additional plugs from Donald E. Westlake and Margaret Maron, plus the author's status as former marketing president for Tri-Star Pictures, will ensure plenty of media attention for this Mystery Guild Featured Alternate. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Defense attorney Andy Carpenter just might be the biggest wiseacre to hit the genre since Archie Goodwin. His courtroom antics have already ticked off judges and juries throughout Passaic County, and he'd probably be in jail himself if not for the New Jersey legal system's tremendous respect for Andy's late father, ex-DA Nelson Carpenter. But now Andy's become an irritant to someone still more dangerous than trial judge Walter "Hatchet" Henderson—someone willing to use threats, beatings, and bullets to keep Andy from inheriting his father's strange legacy: $22 million in an account no one knew about, a photo of Nelson in his 20s with three other young men, and a case that he prosecuted successfully seven years ago, now due for retrial on a technicality. And since Andy promised his father he'd defend Willie Miller in what looks like an open-and-shut case—the murder of Denise McGregor, whose body Willie was found standing over in an alley behind a bar, whose fingernails were lined with traces of Willie's skin, and whose blood was smeared on a knife with Willie's prints all over it—he'll do just that, even if it imperils his shaky reconciliation with his wife Nicole, his livelihood, his reputation, and his life. The new-love subplot with his female investigator, perhaps meant to lend manic Andy some gravitas, is just a distraction from the brisk dialogue, careful plotting, and solid spadework in Rosenfelt's series opener.

Kirkus Reviews

Grover Gardner's narration is relaxed, natural, and easy to listen to. He turns Andy Carpenter into a likable, credible attorney with a strong ethical sense and a whole lot of attitude. Andy's mission this time is to win a new trial for a death row inmate accused of rape and murder. As Carpenter delves into the old case and discovers the evidence doesn't add up, he becomes convinced the man was framed—even though Carpenter's own father was the prosecutor who won the conviction. Gardner's voicing of minor characters gives them plausible personalities, and his performance smoothes over clunky plot contrivances. Gardner makes Rosenfelt's twisty story—especially the wisecracking defense counsel with his courtroom bag of tricks—extremely appealing. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2008 - AudioFile